Anansi and the Pot of Wisdom
by KayKayEe
Summary: Anansi/Ananse/Anancy/Aunt Nancy the spider has decided to collect the wisdom of Africa in his clay pot and keep it all for himself. Which wisdoms will he collect, and will he succeed?


Anansi the spider crafted a plan to become the wisest in all of Africa. Anansi asked his wife Aso to give him a sturdy, clay pot that he could carry with him on a journey. Aso searched her kitchen for a good sized pot. She found one with a tight lid. It was her cookie jar. She cleaned out the pot by telling her children, "Cookies! Come and get one!" A clutter of her children scrambled on their long legs. Then there was not a single crumb left in the cookie jar.

Aso gave the pot to Anansi, and Anansi set off to collect the wisdom of Africa. In the brush, he heard a butterfly telling her caterpillar about Deborah the bee, who made the tastiest food. Anansi asked the butterfly where he could find Deborah. He then hiked to a field of flowers where Deborah made her home, a burrow in the ground.

Anansi found himself at the end of a long line for Deborah's cooking. In addition to the local animals, there were bears and birds from far off lands. Anansi waited and waited at the end of the line. After half a day, the lunch hour approached. The wingless Deborah and Anansi met. Anansi tasted her food and danced. Anansi said, "My wife is ill and cannot cook. I also cannot cook, so we have many hungry children. Please help our children and give me all of that delicious food that you can put into this pot."

Deborah poured the thick, golden liquid into Anansi's pot. His pot filled halfway. "I have given much to the animals before and do not have enough to fill your pot," said Deborah, "I must make more."

Anansi told Deborah, "This is enough. To repay your kindness, take this blanket made from my beautiful silk." Anansi weaved the blanket from his spider's silk in a matter of no time at all. He handed to Deborah, and she wrapped herself in the pearly white blanket, but the blanket had been made from Anansi's sticky silk and stuck to her. Anansi lifted her up and pressed her against her burrow wall so that she stuck to it. Now he had all of Deborah's tasty food.

Anansi left Deborah to her wall. He walked along the brush not long before he came across a colony of ants taking down a green bird with a slender beak who carried some of Deborah's golden food. The ants subdued the bird and took the food. They split it between themselves and ate it. Anansi asked them, "What do you call yourselves, and how did you small ants defeat a bird so large?"

The brown ants said, "Our family name is Freunds." They all smiled and waved their antenna wildly. "We have created the art of Teamwork!"

Anansi set his pot down and clasped two of his hands together. "I am amazed at your art of teamwork. I wish to take you to a mighty celebration for the greatest artists near my home, but your legs are so small." Anansi then said with a frown, "You will never make it in time."

The Freunds replied, "You are a big spider with long legs. Will you carry us?"

Anansi offered to allow them to ride in his pot. He weaved a cloth with spider threads that would not stick and placed the cloth over the honey. Then the Freunds climbed into the pot. Anansi closed the pot with its tight lid. He exclaimed, "Now I have a pot full of wisdom! I have taken Deborah's food and now the Freunds' art. Now I am thirsty from all of this work."

Anansi did not notice the one young Freund who failed to go into the pot in time. Anansi walked away towards a pond for a drink. He was thirsty from working all day. And the young Freund ran towards Deborah's burrow.

At the pond, Anansi saw Shou the sawfly evading a frog's lashing tongue. Shou shifted left, twirled right, shot up and dived down. Shou had a new invention on his back. They were clear. They were wings, but not like those of a bird.

Anansi thought to himself, "These are wise evasion tactics. I must take the invention so that I can protect my pot."

Anansi went to a nearby banana tree out of Shou's sight. He weaved a magnificant, nearly invisible, spider's web. Then he found Shou still at the pond. The frog had given up.

"Shou!" shouted Anansi with hands cupped around his mouth, "I have seen your evasion tactics with your new invention! I would like to see if I can catch you!"

Shou laughed and zipped over Anansi's head. He agreed to the competition. Anansi gave chase. Anansi chased Shou towards the banana tree. Shou flew into the sticky web, and remained there.

Anansi slipped Shou's wings off his back and wrapped them in inadhesive silk. Then he snapped off the lid and put the wings in the pot. He snapped on the lid. Anansi told Shou, "I will leave you in my web and go home to Aso because this was a tiring day." He yawned and plodded away.

Meanwhile, the young Freund had released Deborah the bee from her confinment. Bit's of Anansi's silk stuck to them both, but they could move. They then traveled to the pond the find Anansi.

At the pond, they heard Shou the sawfly calling for help. The found him in the web at the banana tree. The part he was stuck in was the portion of the web that connected the ground to a low part of the stalk. But he was high enough that neither Deborah nor the young Freund could reach him. The young Freund said, "What if we use the art of teamwork? I will stand on you Deborah. You will hold my legs, and I will grab onto Shou's legs? Then we will both pull and Shou will come off?"

Deborah and Shou agreed. She put the young Freund on her head and grabbed his legs. The young Freund grabbed Shou's legs. Together they pulled. They pull hard and Shou was ripped off of the web. He left some of his hair behind but was otherwise intact.

He told Deborah and Shou that Anansi had gone home. They scrambled to beat the sunset. When they reached the mud hut, they found Aso tucking the children into straw beds. The young Freund said, "We are looking for Anansi."

Deborah added, "Would you tell us where he is?"

Aso went outside and pointed east. She said, "He is heading toward the darkest part of the world, where the sun only glances fleetingly."

The trio thanked her and headed east. They found Anansi climbing a tree beside a cliff. He carried the pot in front of him, but the pot was too big for him to reach the lowest branch of the tree before he would slip. Anansi tried climbing again and again he slipped.

Shou yelled, "Anansi! Why don't you tie the pot to your back?"

Startled, Anansi dropped the pot, and the pot broke. From the shattered pieces, the Freunds arose; Shou's wings, wrapped in silk, slipped out, and Deborah's honey stayed in a big piece from the bowl of the pot. Anansi threw his hands up and said, "What good is a pot full of wisdom if I cannot think to tie it to my back."

The Freunds and the young Freund reunited with hugs and cheers; Shou slipped his wings on his back, and Deborah contemplated over how to transport her tasty food.

Anansi snuck away.

Deborah asked everyone if they would help her carry the food back home. The Freunds replied, "We will, but it will take us all night because our legs are small and your home is far."

Shou suggested, "To thank you all. I will teach you how to make wings. They are quick to make and everything we need is here."

With the wings on their backs, they flew with the broken pot to Deborah's burrow. They stayed there for the rest of the night.

When the sun peeked in the next morning, they all ate Deborah's tasty meal. After they were full and cleaned up, Deborah said, "I will teach you my recipe." They all learned how to make and modify the food. Deborah named her's "honey." Shou named his "nectar," and the Freunds named theirs "sap." And they spread their shared wisdom with all of the ants, the bees and the sawflies, and Deborah moved into a high loft with her family of bees to protect their recipe from spiders.


End file.
